João Evangelista Belfort Duarte, commonly known as Belfort Duarte (November 27, 1883 – November 27, 1918), was a Brazilian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. The Belfort Duarte Award is named after him.

Playing career

Born in São Luís,

Maranhão Maranhão () is a state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of . Clockwise from north, it borders on the Atlantic Ocean for 2,243 km and the states of Piauí, Tocantins and ...

state, he started his career in 1902, with Mackenzie College, where he translated the football rules to Portuguese. He was also one of the club's founders. Belfort Duarte worked for Light & Power company in 1906. He joined America-RJ in 1906, changing the club's colors from black to red in 1908. With America, he won the

Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Port., Rio de Janeiro State Championship), was started in 1906 and is the annual football championship in the state of Rio de Janeiro, B ...

in 1913. Belfort Duarte played his last game in 1915, against

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football t ...

Coaching career

After his retirement, he started a coaching career, managing America in 1916, winning the state championship in that year.

Death

Belfort Duarte was murdered on his birthday, November 27, 1918, in a favela located in

Campo Belo (''Union, Order and Progress'') , image_skyline = Corredor_de_arvores.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = View of Campo Belo's main square , image_flag = File:Campo Belo - Flag.png , image_seal ...

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

state, when he was trying to hide from the

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

Legacy

The Belfort Duarte Award was instituted in 1946, by the Brazilian National Sports Council, after Belfort Duarte. The award is given to the football player who completes ten years without being booked with a red card. This award was named after Belfort Duarte because in a game he mentioned to the referee that he committed a foul in his club's

penalty area The penalty area or 18-yard box (also known less formally as the penalty box or simply box) is an area of an association football pitch. It is rectangular and extends 16.5m (18 yd) to each side of the goal and 16.5m (18 yd) in front of it. Wit ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duarte, Belfort 1883 births 1918 deaths Brazilian footballers Brazilian football managers America Football Club (RJ) players People from São Luís, Maranhão Male murder victims Association football central defenders Brazilian murder victims Sportspeople from Maranhão